The Name is Masters
by Bousan'sHanayome
Summary: When a new girl shows up in Casper High, mysteries insue. Where'd Hayden come from, why is her last name Masters........and how does she know Dan Phantom!
1. Chapter 1

_(Lancer's Class)_

"FENTON!"

A certain black-haired boy snatched his head up off his desk as Lancer glared at him. Bleary eyed and trying to stifle a yawn, he focused on the book in front of him. Right, he wanted to know the answer to problem 54.

_What was the question again?_

He managed to stare stupidly at the teacher and stall for time until the lunch bell rang. Grabbing his bag, he ran to catch up with Sam and Tucker as Lancer yelled something about being prepared for class next time. Once in the hall, he let loose the yawn he'd been holding in for an hour. Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Do you could pay a little more attention in class, Danny? I'm tired of having to tell Tucker to take notes for you." Beside her, Tucker frowned.

"Well, maybe you should try taking the notes once in a while."

Danny shoved his bag into his locker and yawned again. "Sorry guys. I was up all night re-catching ghosts. I'm beat."

Sam leaned against the locker. "Re-catching? What happened?"

"Jazz……accidentally let them out of the Fenton Thermos. It wasn't a pretty sight." He slammed the locker door and yawned once more. "I'll be ok; I just need some food or….something."

Tucker nodded. "Can't beat that logic. Come on; its meatloaf day and you know how it is when it's cold." He noticed Sam's glare and chuckled nervously. "Well, you don't know, Sam. You know, the vegetarian thing and all that….."

"Yes, I know Tucker. Let's just get going. Lancer will kill us if we're late after lunch. He said something about a new student coming today." She started off down the hallway. The boys exchanged looks before following.

"Sam, since when do you listen to anything Lancer says in class?"

"Since you started taking naps, Danny."

"Touche."

* * *

_(At lunch)_

"I think Sam's vegetarianism getting to me. My meatloaf's moving." Danny poked the brown mound on his plate apprehensively. Beside him, Tucker was practically inhaling pudding. Sam sighed.

"Some times, I wish there was one girl in this school I could stand…."

Tucker managed to pull off an interested look with a mouthful of vanilla pudding. "Why'd wish that?"

Sam rolled her eyes and went back to her salad as Danny laughed silently. Beside him, Tucker was quickly making the transition from interested to confused. "What? I just wanted to know."

"Forget Tucker. Just eat your pudding." Danny gave the meatloaf one last eyeing before moving on to his tuna sandwich.

Tucker shrugged and finished off his pudding cup. Bored, he began checking his schedule on his PDA to take up the remaining lunch time. The few minutes of silence that followed were interrupted by the sounds of snoring. Sam grumbled in frustration.

"DANNY!"

He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Sam. I really need some sleep." He propped his head up with his hand and poked absentmindedly at the meatloaf again.

"Yeah, well don't sleep in your meatloaf, ok?"

"Fine, I won't. Or, I'll try not to."

"Hey, Danny?"

"What is it Tucker?"

"Are you going to eat that pudding?"

* * *

_(Back in Lancer's Class)_

"All right class, since we're all back from lunch and," he glared at Danny, who was once again propping his head up with his hand and trying not to close his eyes, "Mr. Fenton seems to have recovered from his narcolepsy, I have an announcement to make. As I told you earlier, we have a new student joining us today. She is moving to Amity Park from……" He shuffled through the papers on his desk, obviously looking for the girl's student file.

"Ah, here it is.She's moving here from out of state, and she's been home schooled for a while. She might not be used to large classes, so everybody be friendly to her please?" He motioned to the classroom door, where the student was obviously waiting. After a few moments, the door opened, and a young girl cam in shyly. Once he saw her, Danny sat up a little straighter. She was dress in a black skirt and boots with a shirt that looked similar to his except the colors were reversed. She had dark hair and bright green eyes. She smiled at the entire class as Lancer nodded approvingly.

"Class, this is Miss Hayden Masters."

* * *

**Author's Note: Anybody that reads my other stuff knows that this is a little off genre for me. But I really like Danny Phantom, so I decided to take a stab at writing one. Yes, this has a MarySue. Don't kill me, and R&R please. It'll be longer in later chapters, I promise.**


	2. Chapter 2

_(Nasty Burger)_

"She's cute! Maybe I can 'bump' into her tomorrow….."

Sam rolled her eyes at Tucker. "She's barely been here a day and already you're stalking her? You really need a life. Besides, I don't think she's your type." She flicked lint of her skirt.

"And why not?"

"Because she didn't have 'techno geek' stamped on her forehead."

"Haha. You're funny."

"Why are we even discussing the new girl anyway?" Danny glanced up from his book. "As much as I hate to say this, I've got to finish this math homework from Lancer. I may be stuck as a half-ghost, but that doesn't mean I want to be in his class forever."

Sam smiled and pick up her book as well. "Good for you Danny. This means you're going to try your best in class from now on, right?"

"No, it means I don't want to be stuck in Lancer's class forever. As long as I pass, I don't care." He turned the page and scribbled something on his notebook. Across from him, Tucker pulled out his PDA and began pecking at it with the stylus.

"Let's see…….carry the 1, add 42, and divide by ½…"

"Tucker, what are you doing?"

He grinned. "I downloaded my homework into the PDA. Paper and pencils are so out of date."

"Great, you're a techno fashionista." She turned the page in the math book and sighed. This was going to be a loooooong day……..

"Hey, it's her. HEY HAYDEN!" Tucker began waving his arms in an attempt to grab the girl's attention. Sam shook her head sadly. Danny turned his head as the new girl approached the table. There was something vaguely familiar about girl, but he couldn't put a finger on it.

"Did…..you say something to me?" She stopped beside Danny, although she was talking to Tucker. He grinned. "Yeah, I did. I'm Tucker, this is Danny. Oh, and this is Sam. We were wondering if you needed any help figuring out the school."

"We?..." Sam kicked him under the table. "You mean you were wondering."

"What? You don't want to help?"

"Does she look like she needs help? You probably gave her some gray hairs, yelling like that."

"But…"

"Excuse me?"

They both turned their attention back to the girl at the end of the table. "Thanks for the offer. But I think I can manage myself. Casper's not nearly as big as my uncle's house and I managed fine around there."

"Ok, but do you want to sit down for a while?" Tucker quickly cleared his books off the bench and smiled hopefully. Hayden shook her head. "Thanks again, but I've got…..stuff to do. Work, you know." She smiled politely. "It was nice meeting all of you though. I guess I'll see you at school then?" Smiling still, she walked away.

Sam let out a disgusted noise. "Can you believe her? 'It's not nearly as big as my uncle's house'. Flaunting the fact that her family's loaded. If she says something like that around Paulina, she'll be popular in no time."

"How do you know her family's loaded, Sam?" Danny put his book down and raised an eyebrow.

"Nice of you to join the conversation, Danny. Back to the subject, why else would her uncle have an enormous house?"

"I don't care about her uncle's house. Give her a chance, Sam." Tucker frowned at her over his PDA.

"Don't bother sticking up for her, Tucker. She's still not going to like you."

"How do you know? She might have a secret love for all things techno!"

"Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that."

Danny sighed and went back to the math book. He might be getting a headache from trying to decipher 1st level algebra, but he might as well occupy himself while Tucker and Sam duked it out verbally. He kept thinking about that girl for some reason. What was it about her that made him think he knew her? He knew he had never met her because she moved from out of state, and he was pretty sure she had never been to Amity Park before now……

'_Class, this is Miss Hayden Masters.'_

_Masters? Vlad? Nah, it couldn't be._

He shook his head and noticed that both Sam and Tucker were standing with their bags, staring at him.

"What? I zoned out for a minute."

"Dude, you really need some sleep."

He gathered up his books and shoved them into his bag. "Yeah, I think that's what I'm going to do when I get home. A loooooong sleep."

* * *

_(On the roof of the Nasty Burger)_

A figure crouched behind the Nasty Burger sign and watched the three teens walking away. The figure held up a small patch of fabric which looked as though it had been ripped off. It contained a small emblem of a stylized DP on it. It's eyes narrowed and a low growl resounded from it.

"Clockwork's going to owe me for this."

* * *

**Author's Note: I updated. (Like you can't tell). Please, R&R.**


	3. Chapter 3

_(The next day at school)_

"Oh geez." Sam groaned disgustedly as she surveyed the Valentine's Day decorations that cluttered the hallway. "When are we going to stop celebrating this commercialized holiday that was thought up by the candy and card companies to make money?"

Tucker shoved his backpack into his locker. "That was a mouthful. But to answer your question, I'm guessing as soon as girls like Paulina and Star get tired of buying the decorations." He pointed down the hall, where to the two girls in question were dressed in all pink (including their shoes) and happily gluing frilly hearts to each other's locker.

"That's disturbing, even to me." Danny shook his head and sighed.

"Oh my god! That's amazing!" Paulina's shriek of cuteness rang out in the hallway.

Danny craned his head around to see what the fuss was. Both Star and Paulina were crowded around the new girl, squealing incoherently and jumping for joy. Hayden herself was standing in front of her open locker, looking perplexedly at a giant Valentine's Day box of chocolates in her hand.

"Ok, even I have to say, that's a lot of chocolate." Sam peered around Danny, interested in spite of herself. "I wonder who gave them to her."

"Oh my god, who gave them to you!" Paulina grabbed Hayden's arm and proceeded to shake the poor girl senseless. Tucker laughed. "That's the first time I've seen you and Paulina have the same idea."

Up the hallway, Hayden pried Paulina off her arm and, blushing, shoved the box in her backpack. Slamming her locker, she stalked off down the hallway towards Danny and Lancer's class. As she grew near the three of them, the sounds of Paulina's pestering grew louder.

"Tell us, who gave them to you! Please, its sooo sweet!" Paulina giggled as the group of girls past them. Hayden caught Danny's eye for a moment, and he felt oddly giddy for some reason.

She quickly looked away and made her way to the trash can. "Look, its just some jerk I don't even know. OK? I'll tell you later. Look, isn't that Dash with a box of candy?" With Paulina distracted for a moment, Hayden quickly reached into her bag, ripped the tag off the box, and threw it in the trash as she passed. She managed to put on a straight face as Paulina faced her again.

"I don't see him." The girl pouted for a moment. Hayden thought quickly. "Um…….maybe he went in the classroom. Come on, we'll catch him." She grabbed Paulina's wrist and pulled her towards the classroom.

As the two of them disappeared into the classroom, Tucker started across the hall. "Tuck, what are you doing!"

"I want to see whose giving her candy! Especially a box that big…." He reached into the trash and fished out the card. Sam grimaced. "That's just sick, Tucker. You must really be depraved."

Tucker opened the card and blanched. After a long period of silence, he finally turned around to face them.

"You…….might want to look at this." Intrigued, they both rushed forward.

"What's the big deal, Tucker? Is it from a girl or something?" Sam snatched the card out of his hand and read it quickly. Then, after turning even paler than she already was, she handed it to Danny.

_Happy V-day, Hay._

_From: Danny F._

He looked up from the card to find the both of them staring at him accusingly. "What! I didn't give them to her! Come on, I don't even know her. It's probably some other guy with a similar name."

"Come on Danny, how many people could be in this school named Danny with the last initial 'F'? It's almost impossible." Sam folded her arms and glared at him.

"There is none." Tucker held up his PDA. "I checked it. Danny's the only person in this school with the initials 'D.F'. So that means--…"

"I DID NOT GIVE THEM TO HER!" He gritted his teeth in frustration. "Why won't you guys believe me? I didn't give her that candy; maybe she wrote the card or something."

"Yeah, blow your ego up Danny. That doesn't work, because if she had forged the card, she would have shown it to Paulina instead of throwing it away. Besides, this _is_ your handwriting."

"Whatever. I don't have time for this. I did not give her that candy and I didn't write the card. You guys can think what you want; I'm going to class." He slung his backpack over his shoulder and stalked down the hall to Lancer's class. Tucker and Sam exchanged glances.

"Think we made him mad?"

"Oh yeah."

* * *

_(Inside a janitor's closet at Casper High)_

"Stupid Foley……Just had to dig that card out of trash. He's going to ruin everything."

The figure crouched inside the closet, the same one that had been outside the Nasty Burger, grumbled in frustration. "And the girl. She's not supposed to throw the card away anyway. Unless…….she wants Fenton to find out…." It shook its head. "No, she wouldn't. It would upset everything."

"But just to be sure, I'm going to fix her little attitude problem." Grinning evilly, it disappeared.

* * *

Danny flopped into his seat just as the bell rang. It wasn't until Lancer started calling roll did he realize he was sitting right behind Hayden. He sat up straighter and focused a glare right at the back of her head. After all, if it wasn't for her stupid candy box, Tucker and Sam wouldn't be convinced he was…doing whatever they thought he was doing. This fight was all her fault.

He was so wrapped up in glaring at the back of her head that he didn't notice Lancer calling his name for roll. Before the sound of his teacher's voice could register, Hayden had swiveled in her seat to face him.

"Are you going to answer him, Fenton?"

He snapped out of his self-induced trance to look her in the face. It was the first time she had spoken to him directly, and it caught him a little off guard. He could help but notice that her eye color was about the same as his when he went ghost, except for the whole glowing thing. He must have zoned out again, unfortunately.

"Fenton? Danny, hello!" She waved her hand in his face frantically.

"Huh, what?"

"Never mind, Mr. Fenton. We determined that your indeed here physically. Would you mind asking your mind to join us as well?" Lancer shot him a glare before turning his attention back to the roll book. Hayden prodded his arm.

"You might want to work on that whole 'zoning out' thing. Try not to be so preoccupied with glaring at me next time." She turned back around to face the front of the class, leaving Danny confused.

"Wait, how'd you know?" He blurted out, only to regret it. Great, how was he going to explain why he was glaring at her in the first place? Tell her Tuckerwent garbage diving forher cardin the trash?

Without turning around, Hayden answered him. "Please, your eyes were burning a hole in the back of my head, Danny. Just be more aware to Lancer next time, ok? I know he's long-winded, but it'll be over in an hour."

He couldn't help smiling at her description of Lancer. Even if she had forged that card, there was something about her that he wanted to like.

Plus, the way she said Fenton was cute.

* * *

**Author's Note: Ok, could somebody please R&R this thing? I'm going nuts trying to figure out if people like this story or not. And please tell me if I'm staying in character or not. I'm trying really hard to make sure I make them sound like themselves.**


	4. Chapter 4

_(Same day, Lancer's Class)_

"Your homework for tonight is the problems on pages 46-52. And I want your solution shown, people. No answers that just magically appeared to you. Show me your work."

Danny groaned and slumped in his seat. Great, he stayed out all night fighting ghosts, and now he had the struggle of algebra for tonight. Life just got better and better.

In front of him, Hayden was grumbled as she stuffed books into her bag. "I just don't get this stuff. What do letters have to do with math anyway?"

Danny had to laugh at her logic, considering he had the same thoughts. For a guy who had a super smart sister and a genius mom, algebra didn't have to work very hard to confuse him. Standing up, he waited until she had packed her backpack before he decided what to do next.

"You…got any lunch plans?"

He stared at her for a minute. Then, he scratched the back of his head and grinned, embarrassed. "Well, I was going to kind of ask you the same thing. But, I thought I'd go to the cafeteria and try to solve the mystery of the 'mystery' meat. Want to join me?"

"Yeah, sure." She frowned for a minute. "But what about your friends, Sam and Tucker? I thought you might want to eat with them."

Her question reminded him while he was upset with Tuck and Sam to begin with. But, it wasn't Hayden's fault that they thought he had given her the candy, was it? It shouldn't stop them from eating lunch together.

"We….kind of had a fight earlier. They're probably still mad."

"My candy box, right?" She sighed and looked down at her books.

"How'd…you know?" He stared at her, confused. She sighed again and looked him in the face. He noticed that even with her boots on, she was shorter than him.

"Danny, I've got to tell you something…"

Before she could on, he felt a shiver and inevitably, he saw his breath. _Oh, no…_ Desperately, he turned his attention back to Hayden, only to find her looking preoccupied. He would apologize and tell her to meet him after school.

"Hay--."

"I'm sorry Danny, I have to go." Without another word, she ran out of the room at full speed, leaving him standing in the middle of an empty classroom, confused.

"What was that about?"

"I AM THE BOX GHOST; RULER OF ALL CUBED CONTAINERS!"

"Oh great."

* * *

_(Lunch)_

As usual, he had dispensed of the Box Ghost without much effort. Now, Danny stood at the end of the lunch line, desperately looking for somewhere to sit. Finally, he flopped down on the bench beside Tucker and began to eat his lunch without a word. Sam sighed.

"Look, we're sorry. But you have to admit, it looked that way!" Tucker pleaded with Danny, hoping to placate his friend into talking to them again.

"You should have believed me when I said I didn't do it. Besides, you guys should get to know Hayden. She's pretty nice."

"And when did you get to know her, exactly?" Sam glared at him over her tofu burger.

"We talked in Lancer's class today. We were going to eat lunch together, but she had to go all of a sudden." He poked at his food for a minute, troubled over what she had said before she left.

'_My candy box, right?' How'd she know what we fought over? Must have overheard us or something…_

He shivered as his ghost sense went off again. "Not again."

"Danny, your girlfriend's here." Sam pointed with her fork to the lunch line. Hayden stood with her tray, obviously looking for somewhere to sit; despite Paulina's attempts to get her attention. Danny raised his hand and waved at her, forgetting about his ghost sense a few minutes earlier.

Smiling, she waved back and began towards the table. She stopped at the end, however, when she saw Tucker and Sam.

"Hi Danny. Is…..it ok if I sit here?" It seemed like she was asking everyone, but she stared pointedly at Sam. The Goth girl shrugged.

"I don't care."

Being nudged by Danny, Tucker relinquished his stop to Hayden and moved to sit by Sam. The other girl sat down and stared at her food for a minute before she spoke.

"Thanks for letting me sit here. I'm……trying to avoid Paulina." Both Danny and Tucker raised their eyebrows questioningly as Sam glared at Hayden.

"Why's that? You two looked pretty chummy in the hallway. Believe me; you might want to sit at the popular table instead of with the freaks."

Hayden stabbed her food and glared right back at the Goth. "Look Sam, I know you probably think I'm a stuck up snob. But you're not necessarily broke yourself. So, just give me a break. I won't judge you by your parent's money if you don't rub my face in my crazy uncle's fortune. And let's get one thing straight: Paulina is not the type of person I'd hang out with. I don't do preppy, and I definitely don't do pink. One week with me and she'd be scarred for life."

With that being said, she stared defiantly at the other girl. Sam continued the staring contest for a minute before grinning. "I think I'm starting to like you."

Hayden smiled. "Good, let's keep that way." She started eating finally, although she gave the mystery meat a hard look before moving to her salad. She grinned sideways at Danny.

"I'm not taking any chances with that meat." She went back to attacking her salad as Danny laughed.

Tucker and Sam just rolled their eyes and went back to eating.

* * *

_(After school)_

Danny and Sam waited as Tucker ran back inside to grab his PDA from the locker. How in the world he managed to forget it, neither of them knew. But, being the good friends they were, they were willing to wait for the little techno geek.

"So, did you ever figure out who gave Hayden her candy?" Sam picked lint of her skirt. Danny just sighed.

"I thought we decided that I didn't do it."

"We did. I'm just curious. I mean, if nobody else goes to this school with the same initials as you, then he must be from somewhere else." She folded her arms and leaned against a tree.

"Why does it matter? He's probably from where ever she's from." For some reason, his chest hurt to think it. What if she had a boyfriend back in her hometown?

"I know, I just wondered…..What's taking Tucker so long?" Sam pushed herself away from the tree and brushed bark off her shirt. "It doesn't take that long to get a stupid PDA."

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Tucker came flying out of the school's doors, running for his life.

Danny cursed as his ghost sense went off again. "What is it with today? That's the 3rd time!" He followed Sam in running up the steps and into the school. Once inside, he glanced around for any sign of the ghost.

"All right, where is it..." He tentatively peered around the corner. The roar of a motorcycle warned him to pull back seconds before his head was taken off by Johnny 13's bike. He stumbled backwards and managed to go ghost before the biker turned his ride around. The blonde grinned manically at him.

"Well, well, well, if it ain't Phantom. You know, for a minute there I thought you were getting a little stuck-up. Sending your side-kick to fight me. I'm glad to see you decided to show your ugly face." He revved his engine, but stayed where he was.

Aside form his normal banter of insults, something Johnny said struck Danny as odd. "What do you mean my sidekick? You mean Tucker?"

The man shook his head. "Nah, not the little techno geek. I'm talking about the girl you sent to beat me."

"What are you talking about!" Sam was also seriously confused now. Danny scratched his head. Who exactly was Johnny talking about? It appeared Kitty had beat Johnny with her purse one too many times.

"I'm talking about that other halfa, you idiot!" Johnny apparently had gotten fed up with Danny's confusion. Revving his engine again, he grinned. "It doesn't matter. I taught her a lesson, and now I'm going to teach you!" He raced towards Danny and Sam, laughing.

Danny barely had time to push Sam into a classroom, out of the way, before Johnny zoomed by. Dazed, but determined, he scrambled back out the door and prepared to face Johnny. Unfortunately the blonde biker was indisposed at the moment, as Danny soon found out.

"Hey, let go of my damn wheel, you crazy chick!" Johnny frantically twisted his handlebars, but to no avail. His front tire was being held firmly in place by…..

"A halfa?"

Danny stared incredulously at the person before him. The figure was dressed in a suit similar to his, except for the fact that their sleeves were short. Their hair, as white as his, was braided and held back with a black band. The person yanked Johnny's wheel, causing his to lose his balance. He scrambled back onto his back and glanced from the figure to Danny and back again.

"Two halfas…forget that, man!" He whipped the bike around and took off, disappearing through the far wall. Danny watched him disappear completely before shifting his attention back to the person in front of him.

"What….who are you?" He took a couple of steps towards them as Sam flung the door to the classroom open.

"Danny, what happened? Did you find out what Johnny was--…" She trailed off as she saw the other person in the hall with them.

"Talking about? What the…."

The figure had turned around as Sam opened the door, and Danny had seen that it was indeed a girl. She was dressed like him, and while her hair was the same color, her eyes were a bright iridescent blue color. Before either one of them could say anything, she materialized through the floor and disappeared.

Danny returned to normal and turned to Sam, shocked.

"Tucker's never going to believe us."

* * *

**Author's Note: And the plot thickens! Thanks to _ur1crazedupfruitloop_** **and _Queen S of Randomness 016 _for my first two reviews on this story. You guys are so nice, thanks again! Anyway, you know the drill on this. R&R!**


	5. Chapter 5

_(Nasty Burger)_

"Another half-ghost? How is that possible!" Tucker frantically typed numbers into his PDA before Sam swatted it.

"Cut it out, Tucker. We don't need what the odds are. We're pretty sure it's slim." She turned to Danny, who was sitting with a serious expression on his face.

"Ok, ok, no numbers. But I mean, think about it! Beside the fact that it's highly unlikely that another half-ghost would even exist, what are the odds that she'd show up here?" Tucker, who obviously wasn't letting the situation affect his appetite, took a bite of his burger.

"The odds are good, if I'm the only half-ghost in this town and half the ghost zone knows my address, much less where the portal is." Danny nudged his fries, not hungry. The ghost was bugging him, not to mention Hayden's disappearance earlier. He had convinced the others to go to Nasty Burger not only to discuss the other halfa, but in hopes she'd show up. Not that he'd let Tucker or Sam know that.

Ok, maybe just Sam. She was scary.

"Do you guys always come here after school?"

He looked up at find Hayden standing on the other side of Sam, smiling sarcastically. To his surprise, Sam answered her in an equally kidding tone.

"Only if we want to hang out without overly dramatic parental units." Sam smiled and folded her arms. "So, what are you doing here, Hayden?"

Tucker moved over to allow Hayden to sit down. She did, and sighed. "Same thing. My…. The people I live with are really weird. They scare people I know." She laughed and slid her backpack off her shoulder.

Tucker snatched his PDA back from Sam and gave Hayden a side wards glance as he poked the screen with his stylus. "What, do they pull out the baby pictures or something?"

"No, they think ghosts exist." She sighed and leaned her head on her hand. "They hunt them, with all kinds of equipment. It's very disturbing." She noticed everyone's incredulous gaze and began turning red. "You guys probably think I'm a freak, right?"

"No! I mean, my parents are like that too." Danny smiled at her from across the table.

"Really? I didn't think anybody else did."

Sam shook her head. "No, Danny's parents are totally obsessed with it. Of course, you would have probably found that out anyway."

"Let me guess: everybody knows about your parents, they call you a freak for it, and laugh at your dad?" Hayden sat up straight and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, that's about it. How'd you know?" He took a couple of bites out his burger, now that his hunger had seemingly returned.

"I….um….that's how it was where I used to live." She reached over and stole some of Danny's fries. He made a face before continuing to attack the burger. "Yeah, everybody made fun of me too. Until I, you know, kicked their butt."

"Sounds like you had loads of fun in your old town." Danny finished off the burger finally and propped his head up with his hand. "Where are you from anyway?"

Hayden blinked for a minute, apparently unsure of how to respond. She shrugged nonchalantly and waved her hand. "Oh, here and there. I've lived all over the place. I was living with a friend for a while, and then with my uncle. Then, I came here." She stole another fry and smiled.

"What about your parents?" Danny grabbed another fry and smiled.

"Oh. My parents." She looked down at her lap for a minute before answering him. Her expression became melancholy and distant.

"They died when I was little." She straightened up and smiled cynically. "Well, that was a conversation stopper….So, I--…"

She stopped talking and zoned out, staring at the Nasty Burger sign for a moment. It seemed she was seeing something, or maybe listening to something that nobody else could here. Danny watched her, both freaked and concerned.

"I've got to go." She stood up abruptly, banging the table with her knee in her rush to get up. Snatching her bag, she started to leave. Danny reached out and grabbed her wrist, causing her to jerk.

"Hayden, what's up? Something wrong?" Despite just meeting her the day before, he was worried about the girl for some reason. She was really weird, not to mention paranoid and jumpy.

'_Sounds like me…'_

She pulled away from him and turned to look at them once last time. She looked afraid, and a little distraught.

"I'm sorry guys, I've got to go. I'm sorry Danny." She took off running without another word, leaving Danny standing there with his arm still stretched out as though he had her wrist in his hand. He flopped back down on the bench, confused.

"Why does she keep doing that!" He turned to Tucker, as though he had the answer. "She did that earlier. No explanation, just 'sorry' and 'bye'. It's really weird."

He folded his arms on the table and laid his head on top of them. Not only were ghosts everywhere nowadays, but the cute new girl was acting like being around him for more than 5 minutes was fatal. Life sucked.

"Hey, look at this." Tucker's voice made him wearily raise his head. In the other boy's hand was a blue CD case.

"It's Hayden's." Sam grabbed it out of his hand and examined it. "It must have fallen out of her bag when she grabbed it." She flipped it open and began rifling through it. "It's one of the ones that can hold over a 100 discs. She's got a lot of music."

Danny groaned as his ghost sense went off again. "Somebody, shoot me." Pushing himself off the bench, he jogged lazily behind a nearby dumpster and transformed. Thankfully, the ghost was one of the nameless green blobs and it was quickly disposed of.

He made it back to the table just as Sam and Tucker stood up. "Ok, now what are we doing?"

"Tucker hacked into the school's files and pulled up Hayden's address. He wants to return the CD case to her." Sam rolled her eyes and glared at Tucker.

"Hey, it might be really important to her and can't wait until Monday. Besides, you know you want to go." He put his PDA in his pocket and smiled sardonically at Sam. She just rolled her eyes and began walking down the sidewalk.

"Fine. But can we please just get this over with? Danny needs some serious sleep."

"Oh sure, use me as an excuse." He grabbed his backpack and followed the others.

* * *

**Author's Note: And they're off! Who knows what lies ahead in Hayden's house. (Dead bodies?A mad scientists lab? Teletubbies!) Please, R&R.**


	6. Chapter 6

(Hayden's apartment complex)

Danny stared at the door in front of him. The brownstone they had finally located was clear across town. It wasn't hard to believe that the peculiar girl they were trying to track down lived in this dark, seemingly abandoned building. Mustering up his courage, he knocked on the door.

Nobody answered. After waiting a few minutes, he knocked again, louder this time. Still no answer or noise from inside the apartment.

Frustrated, Sam pushed him aside and turned the door knob. The door swung open soundlessly, and the Goth girl stepped through.

"Hayden? You home?" Sam stood inside the apartment and waited for Danny and Tucker. After exchanging tentative glances, the boys followed her.

It didn't take Danny long to notice that was apartment was incredibly bare. In the room they were standing in, which he assumed was the living room; there was only a dingy couch and a television with a DVD player. No paintings, no tables, no other chairs, nothing at all. Apparently, Sam noticed too.

"I'm the last one to be materialistic, but this apartment is kind of……lacking, in the personal effects department." She turned slowly to appraise the entire room. "It's like no one lives here."

"Or just one person." Danny moved forward and glanced down the hallway. "There's only one bedroom." He turned back around to face the others.

"She's living alone? That's weird."

"That's not the only weird thing, guys." Both of them looked to Tucker, who had flipped open the CD case and began examining it. "These aren't music CDs, they're data recording discs. Like DVDs. They can store audio and video."

Sam glanced over to Danny. "Why would Hayden be carrying around a bunch of DVDs?"

He shrugged. "Unless she really is a hidden techno-geek."

"There's only one way to find out." Tucker moved over to the television and slid a disc out of its holder. Kneeling down, he inserted it into the player and turned the TV on.

"Tucker, what are you doing!" Danny raced forward and snatched the case out of his hands. "What if someone hears that?"

"Relax; we don't even know if it's a DVD. It probably won't even play."

"Tucker, that isn't even the point. You--…"

"_Turn the camera off!"_

The three of them turned their attention to the TV screen. Hayden's face had come into focus, smiling. She laughed on camera and apparently tried to grab the camera from the holder. The camera angle jiggled as the camera wielder back pedaled. A strangely familiar voice echoed from behind the camera.

"_Stop trying to snatch it, Hay. You're going to break it and then I'm going to be very angry with you." The voice had a mock-sternness to it_, _indicating they were kidding around. The camera slowly backed away, revealing the rest of Hayden's form. She was wearing a shirt that was an identical match to Danny's and cut-off shorts. She put her hands on her hips in mock anger._

"_Stop filming me, you dork!"_

"_Never!" The voice behind the camera, obviously a man, began to laugh. Hayden joined in and giggled._

"_I'm serious. This is a serious thing we're supposed to be doing. You've got to film me so I won't forget if he sends me back again."_

"_Ok, ok. What should we say? You're a nerd, you hit like a girl, and you can't kick my butt to save your life." The man made the camera do a little dance. "Hayden can't hit, Hayden can't hit, Hayden can't hit."_

"_Oh, this is hopeless." She folded her arms and rolled her eyes. "You've got to be serious!"_

"_Oh, all right." He trained the camera on her face again. "You are Hayden Masters. You're a 15 year old who attends Casper High School. Your mother and father have been killed, and you're on the run... Hay, this is idiotic. What makes you think he'll find you? I mean, you don't even know if he's looking for you."_

"_I'm out of time. He's going to try to fix the damage I've done and erase me. It's what he does. Now, you need to film yourself; so I won't forget you either."_

"_Aw, how sweet. I'm really touched, Masters." _

"_Stop being sarcastic. I meant so that I can remember who to contact in the Ghost Zone in case he does find me."_

"_Ok, ok. Meanie." The camera lurched and revolved, apparently so the cameraman could film himself. After a few moments, a man's face came into few. The camera zoomed out to take in his entire head and shoulders. He had dark hair and bright blue eyes, and was sporting a goatee and a ponytail. He grinned inanely into the camera._

"_All right, all right. Here are the basics. My name's Dan and I am the only person you will put up with you and your attitude. Got it?"_

"_Thank you, Daniel. Now, turn the camera off before we run down the battery. We'll record more later, ok?" Hayden's voice floated in off screen. The man glanced up from the camera and nodded. After a few minutes, the screen went black._

Danny stared at the screen, shocked. Beside him, Tucker mouthed wordlessly, while Sam blinked rapidly. It took a few moments before anybody could say anything.

"What in the….what was that! Did you guys see that?" Tucker, having found his voice, gestured frantically at the screen. Sam nodded. "I saw it. That was Hayden, and that guy was--…"

"Me." Danny reached out and laid his hand on the screen.

"That was me, in the future. I mean, except for the weird lack of ghostliness, that was Dan Phantom."

* * *

**Author's Note: DUN DUN DUUUUUNNNN! The plot thickens. R&R, you guys.**


	7. Chapter 7

_(Hayden's Apartment)_

"How? How can that be Dan Phantom? He's locked in the Fenton Thermos!" Tucker was having a panic attack. Danny frantically pulled the DVD out of the player and slid it back into the case. He stared at it for a minute before standing up.

"We've got to get out of here." He pulled Tucker up, who was still gibbering to himself and turned to Sam. Opening his mouth to say something, he stopped when he noticed a shadow in the hallway.

Sam watched Danny's facial expression go from determined to afraid. "What is it, Danny?" She realized suddenly that he was looking behind her rather than at her and whirled around.

The shadow moved forward slowly, as though it was just as afraid of them as they were of it. It was a man's form, tall and lanky. A voice floated out of the gloom ahead of the figure, the exact voice on the disc.

"I forgot how short I was."

The person came into full view finally. Dressed in a pair of ripped jeans and a black long-sleeved tee, Danny gawked as he was faced with himself. The older Danny, Dan, broke into a grin at the sight of his younger version's facial expression.

"What? You act like you've seen a ghost. Technically, you're only looking at half of one. Or I used to be, anyway…Speaking of which, have you seen Hayden around?" Dan stepped forward, his hands in his pockets.

Letting go of Tucker's arm, Danny transformed and lunged at Dan, pinning him against the wall. His counterpart's eyes grew wide, although he didn't resist.

"Start talking. What does Hayden have to do with you? Why is she in that video!" Danny gripped his twin's arms. Dan grabbed the younger boy's arms and pried him off.

"I'll tell you if you let go! Geez, I'm a psycho…" Dan rubbed his upper arm and set Danny down. "You could just asked, Phantom."

"Don't call me that! You're Phantom, remember? Or did you forget trying to kill our family and erase me?" Danny folded his arms and floated between Sam, Tucker and Dan, glaring.

The man rolled his eyes and rubbed the back of his head. "You are dense."

"Hey!"

"Sorry. Basically, you're getting me confused with someone else. The Dan you're talking about is Dan Phantom. I'm Dan Fenton. There's a big difference."

"Like what?" Danny lost his glare for a moment, now extremely confused. What was he…Dan…whoever he was talk about. Sam spoke up from behind him.

"Wait a minute. Are you saying you're the human Danny from the future?"

Dan nodded in approval of Sam's question. "Exactly. I'm the human side that Dan Phantom split off from. I don't have ghost powers."

"That can't be true. Vlad said that Phantom killed you when you guys separated." Danny set down and balled his fist, prepared to fight.

Dan put up his hands, placating. "No, Vlad didn't. He said some things shouldn't be discussed. Phantom beat me within an inch of my life and left me for dead. Vlad just assumed that I died." He looked down at his hands and sighed. "It probably would have been easier to die."

Danny, seeing the sadness in his older self's face, relaxed slowly and transformed back. "So, what does Hayden have to do with you?" He watched as Dan sat down on the couch and stared at the ceiling, apparently lost in thought.

"She's been on the run from her uncle ever since her parents died. A while back, she happened upon one of Clockwork's medallions and used it to time hop. It was the only way she could stay far enough ahead of her uncle to keep him from catching her."

"Her uncle must be insane." Danny sat down Indian-style on the floor, followed by Sam and Tucker.

"He is. Vlad's always been rather off the deep end."

"Vlad Masters is her uncle! Duh…" Danny shook his head in disbelief. "I thought about that, but I figured it was a coincidence."

Dan sat forward on the couch. "Nope. Vlad's her crazy uncle. As a matter of fact, he's the reason her parent's are dead. You see, he wanted to try and re-create the experiment that your father botched, which led to Vlad being a halfa. Unfortunately, the experiment blew up, which killed her parents. If Hayden hadn't of been right outside the door when it happened, she probably wouldn't have been affected at all."

"What do you mean, affected?"

"Hayden's a half-ghost. That's why Vlad wants her, so he can use her to defeat you. She's got the same powers as you. He hoped that she would be more powerful than he is." Dan sighed.

"But like I said, she's been running from him. She stumbled into my time, and once I heard her story, I offered to help. The Vlad in my time is good, if you'll remember, so we began to devise a plan to stop the Vlad of this time. But, Clockwork caught onto Hayden's trail a long time ago. He's determined to eliminate her from the time stream and prevent her from further messing up the timeline."

He held Danny's gaze as he leaned forward. "I think he's using Phantom to find her. We have to find her before he does and stop him from hurting her."

Danny blinked for a minute. "Wait a minute. You're saying that Hayden's a halfa, Vlad's trying to capture her to use her as some ultimate weapon against me, Clockwork's chasing her and he's unleashed Phantom to kill her, you want to stop him and you don't have any powers!" He stopped to take a breath. His double raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it. Don't worry about me. I may not have ghost powers, but I've got most of Dad's gadgets. Plus, I'm 21. I have a gun."

"Guns don't kill ghosts, you do know that?" Sam raised an eyebrow at the older Danny. He was good-looking, but he had about as much brains as her Danny. Wait; did she call him _her_ Danny?

Dan gave Sam an innocently surprised look. "Who said anything about shooting ghosts? The gun's for Vlad."

* * *

**Author's Note: More plot twisty! And no, I'm not reaaallly going to shoot Vlad (cause he's so darn good-looking!). Unless he makes me mad, that is. R&R. (And I'm going to bed, so the next chapter probably won't be till tomorrow. Sorry, Queen.)**


End file.
